part 6
50. Mortal Kombat (Arcade): I think everyone and their dog has some sort of back in the day Mortal Kombat memory. Mine was seeing it at a local arcade in a shopping mall and thinking it was a game that dangerous, cool teenagers played. This of course made me really want the game even though I was only 6. During this time my cousin was living with us and he was the definition of one of those cool, dangerous teens that would play Mortal Kombat, and he was just that; why do you think he was living with us? He actually bought the Sega Genesis version for me, but my parents made him return it since they didn't think it was appropriate for me at that age. As I got a little older my parent's restriction on what I played relaxed considerably, but by the time this was happening MK3 was out and the original was no longer that hip, violent game that everyone was talking about. Over the years I haven't found many original MK cabinets in my area, but recently several barcades in my area of had it and I decided it was time to see if this game was really the legend I made it out to be. And before i get into my thoughts on the original Mortal Kombat, I do understand that perhaps its most lasting legacy was its lifelike violence for the time which earned it a lot of media attention, political scrutiny, and parental ire. It was because of this that this game was allowed to prosper and gain the reputation it did amongst gamers, however playing it now I'm thinking that's about all this game was. Mortal Kombat is a pretty shallow, mundane, and pretty simplistic fighting game. The controls are two strengths of punches and kicks, and blocking, that's it. There are special moves and of course Fatalities, but there is little to make it stand out from the pack. Fatalities got a lot of attention back in the day, but my issue with them in this game and all the original 3 MK games is how ridiculous it is to input the right buttons to do them. I'm sure with a ton of practice anyone could figure them out, but for the casual player they were a bit ridiculous. I also feel like the special moves like Sub Zero's ice blast or Kano's energy boomerang were not streamlined until later games. The OST is nothing that great either, but does at least compliment the spooky asian, martial arts setting the game is going for. Speaking of the visuals, the graphics have a charm to themselves that I actually feel is a big part of this games continued appeal; more than anything I enjoy looking at the character models, stages, and other visual details which really made this game feel different than most other games in the arcades at that time. And then of course there's the blood and gore, which you have to mentioned when discussing the visuals. Despite all this, playing the first Mortal Kombat game how it was meant to be played, in the arcade, is a bit like meeting someone you idolized heavily growing up, only to meet them as an adult and find that they weren't even remotely as great as they appeared to be when you were younger. The game is by no means bad, just pretty mediocre overall, particularly because of the very basic gameplay. This was improved, along with everything else in later installments, but for what it's worth, Mortal Kombat is a fairly bland experience that's value in 2019 is more about nostalgia and the experience than the actual act of playing a great retro fighting game. (11/9/19) [28/50]
51. Pokemon Sword (Switch): Playing this game marked a very sad and unfortunate realization. Pokemon has meant a lot to me ever since it came out in North America in 1998. I was one of the first kids at my middle school to get into it and what ensued were some of most fondest, most cherished memories of my late childhood and early adolescence. I was into Pokemon at its height all the way past the release of Gold/Silver, however like many fads that kids get into I eventually lost interest and probably around 2001 or so I temporarily grew out of Pokemon. I remember getting somewhat excited about Sapphire/Ruby when that came out a few years later, so much so I bought them around the time they came out, but just couldn't get into them like I used to be. This is pretty much exactly what i'm experiencing right now with Sword/Shield; I feel like I'm literally forcing myself through this game, keeping boredom away by having Youtube videos on in the background or taking breaks in an attempt to recharge my interest. Essentially I could not even muster the motivation to play this game, and playing it more than half an hour just left me bored out of my mind and wanting to do something else. I believe the reason for this is because I've finally reached that point where the tried and true Pokemon formula has finally lost its appeal to me. Combine this with a lot of lackluster new Pokemon, the ultra gimmicky Dynamax system, and some very annoying characters that you're forced to interact with far too often and I literally could not do it anymore. After 7-hours it pains me to say that I'm abandoning Pokemon Sword. While this isn't the first game I've abandoned, it's the first one I've counted as playing despite abandoning it. The reason I never counted any other games that I gave up on in the past was because part of me didn't feel like I deserved to include it in my tally for the year. However, I feel like playing a game you gave an honest effort to enjoy, but fell far short of that deserves some kind of recognition. I am not going to give this game a score since I didn't finish it, or come close to finishing it, but it is worth noting that I did play it for a reasonable duration of time. It makes me sad that a Pokemon game will be the first to employ this system. (11/16/19) Abandoned
52. Shenmue III (PS4): See below for my full review. (11/24/19) [48/50]
53. World of Heroes Perfect (PS2): I'm pretty well versed in all the main Neo Geo fighting games from the 90s, however one series that I have nearly no experience with at all is the World of Heroes series. I've always had minimal interest in these games, mostly because I almost never hear anything about them, and tonight I found out why that is. Compared to nearly all of its mainstream contemporaries, including many other Neo Geo fighting games of the time, World of Heroes Perfect is pretty bad. The only somewhat redeemable thing it has going for it is its visual presentation, which is decent, but nowhere on par with pretty much most other 2D fighting games released in 1995; the graphics are fairly plain and slightly blurry, obscuring a lot of detail that would otherwise be a welcome addition. However, the character sprites and animated backgrounds in the stages are decent enough for the most part. Now that I've been nice, now to why this game sucks. The soundtrack is very, very lacking and has no kick or ring to it that gets you pumped while playing. As for the sound Fx, it's mostly the same grunts and screams coming from each character, which even during the course of a single match will start to get on your nerves. This could maybe be forgiven if World of Heroes played like a competent, good fighting game, but it does quite the opposite. Controls are very stiff, mid air attacked are unresponsive to the point of feeling useless, special moves are very minimal and overly cumbersome to pull off, and there is no presence of character balancing or real depth at all. Most matches felt like a slap fight to see who would die first. This game lacks nearly all the fluidity and balance that make games like King of Fighters, Samurai Shodown, and Street Fighter II so awesome. In the end I felt pretty bored while playing World of Heroes Perfect. If this is the best this series has to offer (presumably since it was the last title released in the franchise), then I have almost no hope for the three games that come before this one. Unless you have a mad touch of nostalgia for this game, it's best ignored and forgotten. (11/26/19) [17/50]
54. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (PS4): I remember last summer watching gameplay for Jedi Fallen Order at EA's E3 showcase and being cautiously interested in this game. Sure, the gameplay looked cool and fun, but I wasn't sure how interesting this game would be from a story perspective given the tripe we've got from Disney over the last couple years in the form of The Last Jedi, Solo, and the Resistance TV series. Star Wars has been a very damaged brand as of late, so my skepticism was high when it came to this game and how much i'd enjoy it. Then it was released and I heard nothing but great things about it, not just from video game sites, but also the Star Wars community which has mostly held the same disenchantment with the franchise since Disney purchased Lucasfilm. It was mostly the latter endorsement that had me the most interested, so i ponied up $60 and bought it the day after it came out. I expected to like Jedi Fallen Order at this point, but what ended up happening is I ended up loving it, like way more than I ever thought I would. By far the best part of this game is it's story and characters which are absolutely Star Wars to the core; this is the most authentic Star Wars experience I've had since watching Revenge of the Sith back in 2005. There were many parts in the story that made me laugh, fanboy out, and even cry. Yes, this game actually made me cry at one point with how tragic and impactful a specific part was. Beyond being an outstanding entry to the Star Wars canon, Jedi Fallen Order also looks and sounds quintessentially Star Wars in nearly every way. Visually this game was very, very impressive; the various planets you visit feel very different from one another not just in one is a snow planet and the other is a lush rain forrest, but the attention to detail in geography, architecture, layout, history, and so many other facets absolutely enhanced the immersion I felt whole playing this game exponentially. As for the sound, the game nailed the voice acting and sound effects, however the OST, which was mostly originally didn't hit me as much as John William's original compositions for the saga. That's not to say they were bad, but I realized how much less impactful they were when music composed by John Williams did come on and I realized that the original musical contributions just weren't on the same level. Still, it felt Star Wars and that's all I really wanted in the end. Finally, there's the gameplay of Jedi Fallen Order which was a bit of a mixed bag for me, but overall great. The combat was definitely good, and as many have said very reminiscent of the Souls franchise. However, like the Souls games, the combat was sometimes very clunky and cheap at times which created frustration for me at various parts throughout the game. The other huge piece of the gameplay is the exploration part which felt very similar to another well known franchise, Uncharted (or Tomb Raider if you prefer). Exploring the various planets was actually one of my favorite parts of the game, especially since in doing so you often find various cosmetic upgrades to your character, your ship, and even your droid companion. You also find parts for you lightsaber which you can customize as well. Throw in your ability to use the force in different ways while exploring and you have a recipe for awesome! I almost cannot recommend this game enough, especially to anyone who has been less than happy with the direction Disney has taken Star Wars in recent years. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is a phenomenal game and is certainly the best Star Wars game I've ever played. Even beyond that it is one of the best video games I've ever played, ever. (11/28/19) [47/50]
55. Blood (PC): Blood is a game I've wanted to play for a long, long time. The first time I ever heard of this game was from a good friend of mine in elementary school whose dad was a huge PC gamer at the time. My friend would talk about this game as well as quite the cultists in the game. Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to play Blood since I didn't have a PC until a few years later, and by then I was too busy playing other things. Fast forward midway through this decade and I came across a youtube channel that I'm still a subscriber too and still like quite a bit; I'm talking about GGGmanlives who if you don't know is a huge FPS fan and this is one of his all time favorite FPS games. Watching his review of it got me ultra hyped about wanting to play Blood, and also around that time I built my current gaming PC. Given Blood's widespread availability on various digital platforms, often for super cheap I bought the game without a second though. Unfortunately, yet again, it took me several more years to play it, but here I am finished with the four episodes that comprised the original game before the expansions with a review and some opinions about this game. Blood is one of those highly praised old school FPS games that people like to bring up in the same conversations as games like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D. While I don't disagree with it being placed on the same platform as those games, it also shares a lot of the issues and frustrations that was almost a hallmark of 90s FPS games. First off, yes, this game is fun, fast paced and delivers on all the gloriously 2D violence of FPS games from the 90s. However, it also has some questionable, if not just bad gameplay and level design issues that really drag this game and other games like it from that era down. For example, it's pretty annoying to open a door have an enemy point blank you before you've even had time to react. This happens a lot in blood, along with characters being hidden behind you in seemingly empty corners. For someone on a first time playthrough, or really anyone who hasn't played the game back and forth over and over, this results in a lot of really cheap damage taken. Regarding the level design, most levels in Blood are pretty fun, to plain good, but many others are just poorly designed with a lot of backtracking through areas where you've wiped out everything. While most of the levels themselves are pretty interesting, borrowing from a lot of horror themes and movies, having to backtrack as much as you do in Blood really drags down each level's pacing. my other gripe is that the first episode in the game, which you'd think would be the easiest is probably the hardest on account that ammo and health is sparse, and I dare say that it gives an almost unrepresentative impression of the rest of the game where these things are in abundant supply. As I said, there is a lot borrowed from horror movies and literature, and depending on your fandom of these things your mileage will vary. Still, combining these things with very well done 2D sprites, horror themed levels and weapons, and lines from the protagonist referencing a lot of horror pop culture make for a pretty good time overall. The sound in Blood is pretty good overall. The voice acting from the main character can be amusing although he speaks so infrequently it's almost not worth mentioning. The music is appropriately horror themed and really complements the look and vibe of the game, although I didn't feel like many of the tracks really stood out for me. There were a few "tracks" if you can call them that towards the very end of the game which got very, very annoying to the point where I turned the sound off completely so I wouldn't have to hear them anymore. Without spoiling anything, imagine kids shouting at you in the back of the car saying something along the lines of "are we there yet? are we there yet?" and that kinda sums it up. Aside from that the sound quality was above average for the most part. Overall, Blood is a pretty fun, challenging FPS game from the 90s, that possesses all the things that made games from that period great, but also the things that made them frustrating, annoying, and cheap as well. (12/5/19) [36/50]
56. Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout (PS1): In the late 90s and early 2000s I was obsessed with Dragon Ball Z, and pretty much the entire Dragon Ball franchise. I remember learning about GT on the internet and wanting nothing more than to watch this series, which wouldn't be officially released in North America for several years after I somewhat got out of DBZ. But anyhow, while finding out all that I could about Dragon Ball GT I found out that there was actually a Dragon Ball GT game released in North America in 1997, and I nearly lost my mind! Of course upon trying to find this game, it was out of print and every copy on Ebay was going for around $200 which was way more many than I had. However, if I had the money I would have bought it at that price without a second thought. I'm now forever grateful I never was able to do that. To put it bluntly, Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout is one of the worst fighting games I've ever played. So much about this game is broken and poorly designed that even the most diehard Dragon Ball fans would have a hard time enjoying this one, even by the standards of 1997. The controls are very delayed and unresponsive, the hit detection is atrocious, and this game literally has unbreakable combos called Meteor Attacks that can pretty much drain 90% of your health bar from 100% full. The gameplay is just a total mess that is only aided by the fact that you can unlock characters (although most of these unlocked characters or just the Super Saiyan versions of characters you can play as default), there's a semi interesting training mode that allows you to make characters stronger, and there is a tournament mode. Other than that this game is a total mess. Visually the game looks pretty bad too, with very blocky depictions of the Dragon Ball fighters, and very plain, uninteresting levels for the most part. The audio is equally bad, but kind of hilarious at the same time. Parts of the character dialogue is dubbed in english, specifically when selecting a character and at the end of a fight when a character wins. However the voices during the fights are still in Japanese; the result is hearing a very adult male sounding Goku at the character select screen, followed by Goku sounding like a 70-year old screaming Japanese woman while fighting. The soundtrack is severally lacking with no traces of the OST from the show present outside a remixed version of the Japanese DBZ theme during the ending credits. When Dragon Ball GT: Final Bought released in 1997 it was all we had, and based off that alone I guess I'd say it was worth getting only if you were a hardcore Dragon Ball fan at the time, and you were able to get the game at or below retail. However, there is almost no reason at all to own or play this game now unless you want it for sentimental or collecting purposes. The game is terrible. (12/8/19) [18/50]
